THE WEEK; Mt. Pleasant as Site For Homeless May Change

By MICHAEL MALONE

Published: February 11, 2007

A mere quarter-mile may spell the difference between a homeless shelter being built in Mount Pleasant and the county finding another site.

The county executive, Andrew J. Spano, announced last week that a 100-bed drop-in shelter in White Plains would move to a new building to be built at county police headquarters in Mount Pleasant.

The plan surprised many in Mount Pleasant. Robert Meehan, the town supervisor, said he learned of it from The Journal News last Monday.

Two days later, some 70 residents went to Town Hall to voice their concerns. ''We're very much opposed to it,'' Mr. Meehan said.

He said the town already had a homeless shelter at the Grasslands Reservation, and when it was built, the county agreed not to put a new shelter within two miles.

But in choosing the Mount Pleasant site, Mr. Spano's office measured the distance to it from the Grasslands shelter -- a little more than two miles -- instead of, as the agreement stipulated, from the center of the reservation, which is about a quarter-mile short of two miles.

Mr. Spano's chief adviser, Susan Tolchin, said the county would honor the agreement and either find another site or renegotiate.

Mr. Meehan said Mount Pleasant was already doing its part. ''One community can't support the entire homeless population of the county,'' he said. MICHAEL MALONE